Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volumes 1 & 2

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

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swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#26 Post by swo17 » Fri Mar 18, 2016 1:54 pm

Orlac wrote:I wonder if the top and bottom should be slightly tighter, rather than an overal zoom?
If you care enough about such things, you can invest in a projector that will allow you to mask the image this way.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#27 Post by Orlac » Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:15 pm

Care doesn't mean invest (not with my salary!) but point taken!

I'd certainly rather have the splices there, then the image or continuinity messed up to hide them.

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StevenJ0001
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#28 Post by StevenJ0001 » Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:39 pm

Similar to Orlac's question earlier, I'm wondering if there is any way to determine whether the visible splices would have been masked when the films were projected during their original release.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#29 Post by Orlac » Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:57 pm

This settles it for me - http://www.tohokingdom.com/forum/viewto ... &start=820" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It also depends on whether or not the film was cut together conventionally (every shot spliced together), or as A & B rolls. In A-B roll cutting, the odd and even numbered shots were cut into separate rolls, with blank leader (cut to the same length as the corresponding shot) used in each roll to take the place of the corresponding shot in the other roll. This allowed for fades, dissolves, etc. to be done without inserting opticals and losing quality. It also allowed for prints or dupes to be made without visible splice lines. 16mm and 35mm anamorphic films were usually cut together using the A-B roll method, as conventional cutting resulted in splice lines being visibile

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MichaelB
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Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#30 Post by MichaelB » Sun Apr 10, 2016 1:14 pm

Yes, that's absolutely the situation and it's very very common indeed in Japanese films of this vintage.

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chiendent
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Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#31 Post by chiendent » Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:59 pm

Anybody start watching Vol 2 yet? I got it in the mail last week and watched the first two. This volume is a lot lighter in tone than the first and both films I've seen so far looked great. Tokyo Mighty Guy is a blast, kinda like one of those wholesome Elvis movies but a bit stranger. I liked it more than last set's Rambling Guitarist. Danger Pays is a fun action comedy and probably my favorite film so far out of both sets.

I realize sales haven't been great but I hope there's a Volume 3 eventually, I love this series.

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chiendent
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:32 pm

Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#32 Post by chiendent » Tue Jun 28, 2016 12:40 am

I watched Murder Unincorporated tonight and it's easily the worst film of both sets for me. It's just too wacky and though there are a few fun elements (Joe Shishido, plus an assassin who hides a gun in a book of Heine poetry) it's exhausting and not fun to watch. Made me wish I was watching Shinoda's Killers on Parade instead.

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knives
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Re: Nikkatsu Diamond Guys

#33 Post by knives » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:36 pm

I guess I'll be the one to say I thought The Rambling Guitarist was a lot of fun. It's not a great film, but as a western set in then modern Japan it offers some pretty simple pleasures and it makes sense that they apparently turned it into a series. I'm actually a bit surprised that the Suzuki was the one that worked the least for me, though even it is fun enough as a straightforward noir (I suppose this is me mostly just revealing what genres I like).

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